Heart of Outcasts: A Spicy Standalone MM Urban Fantasy Romance (Wolves of Autumn) by Nicole Silver

Author:Nicole Silver [Silver, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: White Raven Press
Published: 2023-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

I feel like crap when I finally crawl out of bed at eleven. My stomach muscles and ribs ache from throwing up, and there’s a headache lurking behind my eyes.

But I brush my teeth and wash my face and don’t look too closely at myself in the mirror. I pick out my newest, nicest pair of jeans – the ones I bought at the men’s consignment that Raine said make my butt look good – and add a t-shirt that she swore made me look thin and toned instead of merely skinny.

It might be chilly near the river, so I add an army-surplus jacket, stuff phone, wallet, and keys in my pockets, and put on my hand-me-down sneakers. Once I actually make some money instead of getting advances on pay I haven’t earned yet, I’ll get a good pair of proper runners for running in, and something more casual for everyday. For now, these will do.

I have to run to catch the bus, and then I end up getting to the ferry dock, where we agreed to meet, early, but he’s already there, leaning on the railing, with an honest-to-God picnic basket at his feet. His back is to me, and I walk slowly, studying how his jacket stretches across his back, how his ass and thighs look in his perfectly-fitting jeans, how the sun makes his dark blond hair shine as the breeze off the river lifts strands away from his shoulders.

He turns before I’m ready, and I can’t catch my breath. I hope I’m not gawping at him as stupidly as I feel.

“Hey,” he says. His voice sends an electrical zing through my chest, and I should be dismayed at how this man can destroy me with one almost meaningless word.

“Hey.” I stop, stuff my hands in my pockets, suddenly not knowing how to act.

“Did you sleep?”

I nod. “A bit, yeah.” I bite my lip. “Sorry I kept you up.”

“Don’t apologize.” He brushes the side of my face with the backs of his fingers. “I’d have driven here to read to you in person if you’d let me.”

“Thanks.”

He nods, drops his hand away and picks up the basket. “There are tables and benches down that way.” He nods along the river, and we start to walk.

After a few minutes of silence, he says, “Can I hold your hand?”

I look up at him in surprise, then look across the river. “Maybe on the way back,” I say.

“Okay,” he says. “How was work? At the gallery?”

“It was good,” I say. “I like Katie.” I look at him out of the corners of my eyes and he’s got a tiny smile.

“Katie’s pretty great,” he says. A few more steps and he adds, “I guess you know we slept together once.”

“I know,” I say.

“It was months ago. It’s not going to happen again. We’re friends, that’s all.”

“I know,” I say again. I drag a smile out from somewhere. “Katie doesn’t do repeats, anyway.”

That startles a snort out of him. “No, she doesn’t,” he says.

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